Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
Introduction
27
erncultures.Tetreeneedsitsroots,sobeforemovingintocontemporary
discussionsonliterature,itisimportanttointroduceitshistoricalcontext.
BeginningwithAncientGreece(Aesoptales,philosophy)andOld-Chris-
tianliterature(i.einthepopularstoryofJosaphatandBarldm,gospels),
thechapterpresentsreceptionofDharmainOrientalstudies,philosophy
andtheosophy,Beatniks,Buddhist-Christiandialoguetilltheemergenceof
modern,WesternBuddhistinspiredliteratureandpoetrywithBuddhism
beingavisibleculturalphenomenonontheWesternhorizon.
Tesecondchapter,TeDeathoftheText,isthemeetingpointofWest-
ernacademiawithBuddhistphilosophyintheliterarycontext.Buddhism
encompassesnumerousinsightsontheontologicalstatusofphenomena:
subject(author,reader),object(suchasatext),andtheirinterrelatedcor-
respondence(reading,criticizing).Ananalysisoftheemptynatureoflit-
eratureaccordingtoCandrakirti’s(600–c.650)SevenfoldReasoningis
presented,aswellasWesternBuddhistinspiredcritiqueoflinguisticnom-
inalismshowingitsprocessualnature.Buddhistunderstandingiscontrast-
edwithoutputsofmodernliterarytheory,analyticalphilosophy,linguis-
ticsandcognitivepsychology,whicharepresentedinadescendingsearch
foranontologicalstatusofliterarystudies,literature,workofart,text,con-
cepts,wordsandlanguagetofinallyconcludethatevenasingleletteror
aphonemeevadecategorization,cannotconfirmtheexistenceofanyuliter-
aryatom.”Inthislight,literatureisunderstoodasaprocess,asopposedto
theviewofliteratureasanobjectintheculturaluniverse.PresentingBud-
dhistunderstandingofemptinessintheliterarycontextleadstoaperplex-
ingconclusionthatliteratureandalltexts,likeallotherphenomena,can
alsobeperceivedasempty(Skt.śūnyatd)ordeprivedofontologicalfinali-
ty,whichistheudeath”ofabeliefinasubstantialorreal,ultimateandin-
dependentorinherentexistenceofliterature.Progessivestagesofunder-
standingemptinessarepresentedinthecontextofliterature:reductioad
absurduminrang-tongattitude,uNāgārjuna’srazor”–theauthordoesnot
exist,thereisnoreadingofthetext,thereaderdoesnotexist–iscontrast-
edwithamoreoptimisticshen-tongattitude–subject,objectandactiondo
notexist,however,thereisconsciousnessexperiencingmind’srichness,and
furthermoretheenlightenedexperienceofitisjoyful.
Tethirdchapter,titledWesternBuddhist)sReflectionsonInterpreta-
tionofLiteraturepresentstentativeframeworkofaBuddhistapproachto
literature,itformstheoreticalfoundationsforBuddhistperspectiveonlit-
erature–anideathatliteraturecouldfunctionasatoolfacilitatingexperi-
